How to manage a class with varied levels of learners

Dealing with mixed ability students in a class is a common phenomenon in teaching career though it is a very difficult situation for a teacher to cope with. A teacher's success depends on how successfully he/she can manage such kind of class. Our teachers, mostly rural teachers, put the same complaint that their students are very poor and so they cannot improve their results or they do not understand English or what they teach them.  This is a very common scenario in almost all the rural schools in Bangladesh and I think in almost all the SAARC countries with some possible exceptions. The same level of learners is rare in almost all the educational institutions particularly in the secondary and higher secondary levels except in some specialised educational institutions such as cadet colleges and public schools in Bangladesh. The admission criteria, screening process and very limited number of seats have put this institutions in an advantageous position. Even then, it is difficult to satisfy the needs of all the learners in the same manner and within stipulated time.
This is a very common problem for a teacher to meet mixed ability students in a language class. This happens for a number of reasons but mainly because of different learning styles, different learning speeds, and variations in motivation.  Social, environmental and financial factors are also there. Very often the teacher is faced with a class with several distinct levels of ability and has to tackle the problem of how to meet the needs of everyone in the class.  This reality prevails  in almost all the countries. Students are different in many ways. Some are quick, others are slow. Some are confident while others are shy. Some like working with friends, others are happier working alone. This is quite natural. A teacher is to find out innovative ways for how to teach all the different individuals in the same class.
My first year in a cadet college gave me excitement because of new situation but teaching English did not give me  that much interest. Why? I had to teach them English according to the common national English syllabus which was much easier for them. The same syllabus was produced for the students across the country keeping in consideration the level of both urban and rural context, advantaged and disadvantaged and poor, weak and bright and mediocre type of students. However, to find and create interest in the class, both for myself and for the students, I tried to find out innovative ways and means, otherwise the whole teaching career in the beautiful campus would have been dull and reluctant. After long observation, research and trial I became successful to hold the attention of the learners though the national syllabus was easier for them. I tried to understand the demand of the bright learners and prepared my lessons accordingly which gave me much interest and a different kind of taste in teaching. The learners of such institutions as cadet colleges are almost uniformed but learners of various levels are available in the same class in almost all the educational institutions. The teacher has to find a balance.
One solution to this problem is to abandon lockstep teaching for at least parts of the lesson so that the teacher can work intensively with a sub-group of the class while the others work autonomously. This of course means that suitable materials for autonomous study need to be available. But computers are not available in most of the rural schools. The most radical way of using the materials would be to make them the sole basis of the lesson. Each student would spend the lesson working through a course on his/her own while the teacher would provide individual help and explanation, and for differing levels, this may well be the best solution. But with others, where the differences are not too extreme, it is also possible to incorporate the autonomous work into the regular class lessons.
Many teachers complain that their students are all at different levels which means they do not want to accept the natural situation. Presence of different types of students in a class is quite natural. It is teachers who have to explore some techniques to satisfy the needs of the students. How can teachers do it? Suppose, the difficult lessons may make the brighter students interested but it will lose the interest of mediocre or low level students. In the same way, very easy lessons will make the brighter students convinced that their being in the class is useless. When it happens, the inability and failure rests upon the teacher who teaches the language. So, teachers must pay serious attention to the fact that all sorts of students must take active and genuine interest in his/her class. It is true that all types of learners like friendly teachers. All of them like teachers who can make the class interesting. So, teachers must try to hold the attention of the learners by ensuring these things. When teachers can win the hearts of the students, they naturally become weak towards that teacher and manage themselves to remain in the class. This is a plus point for a teacher. Then, according to the needs of the students she/he will conduct her/his class.
If we give the learners homework, we should be careful about it.  If all the students will have the same homework task, it will be too easy for some students and too difficult for others. If the task is too easy, the clever students do not learn anything. If the task is too difficult, the weaker students do not learn anything either. In this situation we should give easier task to the weaker students and more challenging tasks for the brighter students.  Suppose, 'True and False' is easier than 'Multiple Choice' and 'Multiple Choice' is easier than 'WH' question.  So, according to the level, degree and demand of the students we can set the tasks both in the class and as homework.
We can make the task easier by giving more help. We can give the weaker students most of the answers but with some mistakes, we can correct the first few mistakes and ask the students to correct the next few. Then we can ask them to do the last few items without help. We can also make the task easier by giving more worked examples.  We need to try to set three levels of the same homework task -an easy version, a more difficult version and the most difficult version. As teachers we should identify the levels of students and also can let them choose their level. When we find some lazy students always choosing the level below their ability, we should persuade them to move up to their appropriate level.
Through group or pair work we can try to ensure maximum participation of the students. Choral and chain drillings can be effective ways to involve weaker or shy students. The ways of teachers’ asking the students to raise hands to answer the questions should be avoided as the introvert and weak students will never raise their hands meaning that everybody in the class is not participating in the activity. We should be diplomatic enough in our question techniques. We should try to avoid putting weaker students on the spot by nominating them to be the first to answer a question in open class. Instead of it, we can encourage a culture of attentive listening in the classroom so that we can ask stronger students first and then  weaker ones to repeat the same question. It may be time consuming, but once this style of interaction becomes habitual, it can be very productive in terms of class management.
It is rather easy to get frustrated in a mixed-ability class. Stronger students may feel held back and weaker students may feel pressured. As a result the teacher may feel stressed. Probably the best solution to this is to have an open class discussion about the classroom situation. To ensure the best for everyone it is better to acknowledge the situation and reach a common decision on how to deal with it as a class.  A teacher can design a needs analysis chart to help the students reflect upon their learning style, learning strategies, language needs, learning enjoyment, motivation, language strengths and weaknesses.  What kind of class activities do you enjoy and benefit from? Which language skill do you enjoy most? Do you prefer working individually or with a partner? Should you rather sit and listen to the teacher or participate in group work?  A teacher should collect the information and prepare a statistical representation of the key questions and answers. This will help to develop the sense of shared community in the class.
All classes are in some way mixed ability classes where children of the same age may vary in terms of their maturity, intelligence, cultural and home background. It would seem that it may be the case of a traditional classroom that the weaker students can be neglected, because the brighter students take more than their share of the teacher's attention. The main success lies in planning the activities and designing the lesson plan that considers different levels of students. Besides, the teacher is the best person to judge what activities and topics are interesting for pupils and what they are capable of. In the classes there should be opportunities for different children to make different contributions, depending on their capabilities and if individual contributions are valued, the pupils' confidence grows.  They are motivated to continue and feel positive about  classes.
A teacher cannot expect to see a very smooth situation considering the practicality of life and the world. He/she must not blame the authorities or students why all the students in a class are not same. As it is very natural and practical, he/she should have the mentality to accept it. Again, when all the students are of the same quality and their level of understanding is very high, a teacher hardly has anything to do with them.  Teaching is a very exciting, competitive and creative profession. When a class with mixed type of students appears, a teacher has enough scope to conduct research with them, think of them and can engage himself/herself in doing something special. So, a mixed class can make a teacher a good education researcher.  A teacher's other skills and capacities also develop with the exercise of  his/her brain and intelligence.

The writer is Programme Manager at BRAC Education Programme and Vice-President of Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association,
email: [email protected]